Uses of Lavender Essential Oils

Lavender is one of the most used essential oils in the world. It has had a long history of use for over 2,500 years both medicinally and for religious purposes. Egyptians used it in mummification and as a perfume. Romans used it for bathing, cooking and for “freshening” the air. It is believed by some to be the herb that Mary used to anoint Jesus feet (John 12:3).

Dr. Axe has collected 7 benefits of using lavender essential oils based on research. They include:

Anti-oxidant Protection – most of our bodies have become deficient in anti-oxidants because of poor diet and high exposure to toxins. Breathing diffused lavender oil has been shown to help your body produce three types of anti-oxidants within 22 hours of using lavender essential oil.

Lavender oil treatment protected the body from the following symptoms of diabetes:

Surprisingly, the radical-scavenging anti-oxidant activity of lavender was actually more robust than ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)!

3. Improves mood and supports brain – Traditionally, lavender has been used to treat neurological issues like migraines, stress, anxiety, and depression so it’s exciting to see that the research is finally catching up to history. Just last November, for instance, an evidence-based study was published by the International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. The study found that supplementing with 80 mg capsules of lavender essential oil alleviates anxiety, sleep disturbance and depression. Additionally, in the study there were no adverse side effects from using lavender oil to treat anxiety, insomnia and depression. Whereas we know pharmaceutical drugs like prozac have dangerous side effects. And according to research, lavender essential oil benefits don’t stop there, it has also been shown to reduce symptoms and development of Alzheimer’s disease!

4. Lavender heals burns and cuts – we have found that lavender oil speeds the healing of burns, cuts, scrapes and wounds and a big part of this is because of it’s anti-microbial properties. For burns or eczema, mix lavender oil with coconut oil in 1:5 ratio for rapid healing.